While Declan begins his raging song, Adolina, Rose, and Tanjona move into melee with the strange creature. With eyes all around its body, the thing is impossible to flank. Tanjona and Rose fail to hit the thing, and while Adolina does score a hit, her piercing weapon seems less effective against the monster's rocky hide.
The creature bellows and attacks Adolina with its teeth and claws. It rips into the paladin, laying her low!
Tanjona lets out a growl as he moves into a strange back-and-forth rhythm that makes it hard for the enemy to keep up with his motions, making flanking attacks easier against it.
Seeing that this creature is not going to suffer from superior positioning, Declan instead slides adjacent to Tanjona to help protect him in the future. As he moves, he uses his rat quadrille effect with his tunes to get the words stuck in the creature's head.
Once adjacent to Tanjona, he points out "Strike him there!" and points to an exposed area on the creature's left side.
"S**t" Rose curses loudly as Adholina collapses to the floor.
Rose bends down and pulls out an easily recognizable potion from Adolina's pack and pours it down her throat, trying to stem the worst of the bleeding with a magical touch.
Farrina eyes the creature carefully, not sure what in her magical arsenal would be most effective. Settling on her spray of colors, she moves from matching color to matching color to position herself to hit the creature, but not her companions.
The creature's many eyes prove a detriment as it can see Farrina's color spray from every direction! The creature reels, allowing Tanjona to land a solid hit! Rose heals Adolina, stabilizing the paladin, though she still remains unconscious.
"Hit it there again!" Declan says, before continuing loudly declaring the death of this creature through his raging song. He swipes at the creature, but his attack is nothing more than a distraction.
Rose stands back up reassured that Adholina's bleeding seems to be slowing considerably, now prioritising the destruction of this creature.
Having done what she can do with her more power magic, Farrina resorts to a spell she hates.
Tanjona focuses his attention further, lunging like a shark diving in to bite its prey.
Tanjona and Rose both land good hits while Farrina's ray of frost leaves a tiny patch of ice on the creature's body. Recovering from the color spray, it bellows and attacks Tanjona, biting him and ripping him apart with its claws!
Still raging, Declan turns to Rose and says "I'll hold it off, aim for the eyes!"
He then takes a step back and embraces his guarded stance in a total defensive posture.
Declan casts Gallant Inspiration, helping the archer even further with her aim.
"Why does it always seem to come down to this stupid spell," Farrina complains as she sends another ray of cold at the strange creature.
Rose drops her rapier and scurries backwards, drawing her bow and taking a shot as Declan provides cover.
Emerald Rose lands a solid shot with Declan encouraging her. The strange creature falls!
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Adolina recovers consciousness when shaken and immediately turns her attention to Tajona.
"Damn, that thing hit hard." Adolina says, standing up gingerly. "Thank for the wand Songbird. We'd be in a bad way without it. I have some healing left if we want to push on, or shall we cut our losses? We still have a week or two to get this done."
She turns to both Rose and Songbird. "I owe you both an apology. I've been wary of you, despite Hentamon's recommendation. But you both came through for us in this battle. It's a pleasure to have you on side, as long as we stop with the cutting yourself to prove a point..." She finishes with an impressive glare at Songbird. "You deserve to know what we're doing here. We want to clear this place out and rebase the Silver Ravens here. I've got a legitimate above-ground operation beginning in ten days so ideally we want the place cleared out before then. So, shall we burn a lot of magic and press on, or take the day to rest and recover?"
Looking at Rose, Declan nods "Well struck. You're welcome."
Helping Adolina to her feet, Declan says "No offense taken, my assistant and I understand your precautions. They are wise and we would do the same had we been in your position."
Looking around, he says "We're pretty beat up. If there is no rush for time, perhaps it's prudent to rest and regroup tomorrow."
"Hells yes, let's fall back and rest," Farrina declares. "About the only thing I've got left to fling at the bastards is spit and foul language. And I don't have a lot of spit left."
Declan looks over at Farrina with a devilish grin and says "Oh, I'd love to hear you talk dirty. We can do it later, if you like."
"Easy there, Tiger," Farrina says to Declan. "If you want to hear me talk dirty, you can come by The Dancing Dog and catch my act just like everyone else."
Letting out a frustrated sigh. "I am NOT your assistant Declan. Who made the final blow exactly?" Turning to everyone else to ignore Declan, Rose doesn't reply immediately, her expression impossible to tell behind her smooth, emotionless black mask.
Can I trust them yet? Its not like I know about them apart from how incompetent they seem to be...If Declan and I weren't here....
Spending a minute to weigh up the possibilities, she finally decides against revealing her identity to everyone for now.
"I think you're right, Ana" Rose says putting a slight emphasis on the name. "If you don't mind, we can meet back here tomorrow when we're all rested so that we can continue. I think this would make a great base for your Silver Ravens based on what Hetamaon has told us about you."
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The smile vanishes from Adolina's face so fast it looks like one of Farrina's conjuring tricks.
"Right, let's get cracking on all these yellow tiles." She says clapping her hands, "Rose, let's start at the far end while the others work from this side."
Once they have a few meters from the rest of the group Adolina whirls on Rose in a flurry of red hair. "Right. Who the hells are you Rose? No-one's called me that since school!"
Tanjona stirs slowly and nearly bites the hand that heals him.
"What happened?"
At least she picked that cue up, her training can't have escaped her entirely.
"Meet me mid-afternoon at Villegre Park; we can walk together. You'll recognise the real me when you arrive. We know each other. I don't know the rest of these people so would rather keep my identity private until I learn more. I'll be sitting on the bench next to the large lop-sided beech tree. Even Songbird doesn't know the real me, so keep this private." Rose asserts.
Rose helps to lift a few more tiles before making excuses to get a good lunch and rest, reassuring them all she will meet them the next day, before turning to leave.
"See you all tomorrow. Songbird, don't get into anything you shouldn't before then, I won't be around to save you tonight." Her mismatched eyes fall back upon Farina, "Catch you in the morning, beautiful."
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"Right, basic precautions. Leave one at a time, you don't know each other etcetera etcetera. If we don't see each other again, meet at the Tooth and Nail tomorrow 'for breakfast'." Anyone who has ever been to that particular pub knows that no-one should ever eat Sabina's breakfast!
As the others leave Adolina puts a hand on Tajona's arm. "I'm sorry I haven't said this before." She says, "But thank you for staying with me in the Temple. I honestly thought I was going to die and having a friend there was important to me." The redhead leans in and kisses the scarred sailor on the cheek.
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Later that afternoon Adolina is prompt to her meeting. Wearing a well fitted dress and cloak rather than her more pragmatic 'fighting clothes' she looks like a bored noblewoman going out for a stroll.
Heading towards the large beech tree that acts as something of a landmark within the park she wanders, apparently aimlessly, taking in the sights and smells of lush greenery.
Each of the remaining yellow tiles has more valuables in them. There are 7 tiles in all, including the first one you opened, with assorted valuable worth a total of 2,100 gp. In addition, the two bodies in the middle of the room are clad in similar clothes to the bodies in the opium den. The have valuables including signet rings, bracelets, earrings, and necklaces worth a total of 1,200 gp.
She looks towards Adolina as she approaches, her eyes a clear giveaway of her identity.
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"Lady Merissial, how fortunate to meet you here." She says, all outward charm as the two exchange the polite kisses required in such circumstances. "What a coincidence seeing you here, have you come to look at the roses?"
"Why its been a little while since I last saw you Lady D'Jhaltera, I think it was at the High Tea when you discussed your new outreach programme?"
She takes a couple of steps over towards the flower bed and leans down, taking a rose between her fingers before breathing in its scent.
"The roses are well kept here don't you think? Not as good as the particular species we have fostered in my family's garden. An unusual specimen which flowers a deep emerald green. Do you have an interest in horticulture?" She asks, politely before taking a few steps to encourage the other lady to begin walking alongside her.
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"So, what did you think of my outreach program? I do feel that they is so much we of the Greens could be doing to help those less fortunate than us - in the right way, of course. Not like these silly 'rebel' groups who keep popping up. I hope I can count on your support once the clinic is set up properly?"
Eliona continues walking, keeping stride for stride with Adolina as they stroll through the park, picking their way between a vast amount of procrastinating students.
"I think it is an inspired plan Ana and you can certainly count on my support. I will come and volunteer regularly to help distribute charity to those unfortunate souls."
"Now, I should probably not have been here today Ana, I was procrastinating this afternoon with a nice pamplet and stroll in the park, so please do keep this chance meeting between both of us just so I don't get in trouble with my Father for truanting my duties again." Eliona says with an entirely straight face.
The rest of the walk is spent having a polite and acceptable conversation between two old school friends that just happened to bump into each other in the park on this day.
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The next day a fully rested Adolina, who is feeling much better, meets the rest of the group at the Tooth and Nail. "Right," She says cheerfully, "Let's hope we don't get into quite so much trouble this time around!"
You return to the chambers beneath the Lucky Bones and retrace your steps, crossing the room with multicolored tiles. Thick layers of dust lie over the long central table and shelves of the next room. Several large parchment maps sit on the table, along with a curved dagger and a few stacks of dusty coins. Numerous moldy and dusty ledgers and scrolls sit on the shelf to the south. To the west hang three faded portraits.
The paintings on the wall are faded and moldy, and while their subjects can still be made out, they have very little value. The northernmost painting depicts a red-haired man with goatlike horns and sharp teeth—its plaque identifies him as “Guildmaster Baccus.” The southernmost painting depicts an attractive halfling woman—its plaque identifies her as “Guildmistress Lorelu.” The central painting depicts a stern-looking young Tian-Shu woman with a narrow face and short hair; its plaque identifies her as “Guildmistress Hei-Fen.”
There are 38 pp, 230 gp, 392 sp, and 43 cp scattered on the table; the curved dagger is a dagger of venom.
The ledgers on the shelves to the south are mostly ruined from years spent in this humid environment, but an examination of them (which takes several hours) reveals the extent of the Gray Spiders’ impact on Kintargo—their thievery and abduction activities were quite profitable, and the city is much better off without them. Study of the texts reveals numerous links to the city of Vyre, and it was to this city that most of the abducted victims were sent—many appear to have been scheduled for sacrifice or sold into slavery.
One particularly interesting ledger, though, is a set of deeds for a number of warehouses and waterfront buildings in Vyre that name one Molly Mayapple as the legal owner. Other notes with the ledgers indicate that these deeds are stolen, and that the Gray Spiders intended to use the deeds to blackmail Miss Mayapple, yet the raid by the Hellknights cut this plan short. In one note, a particularly interesting bit of text, written in Tien, reads, “Mayapple may be a fellow rat, but that doesn’t exempt her from being fed on by a Spider!”
One final paper stuffed in a ledger contains a short poem written by the notorious halfling poet Boswyth, a well-known critic of Thrune and rumored worshiper of Norgorber who grew up in the city of Vyre. One line is circled: “Moonstone, Moonstone, ruby bright / Open turquoise, malachite.”
The maps on the table are mostly of the city of Kintargo, and focus on now-out-of-date information about where patrons, allies, and enemies of the Gray Spiders lived. One of the maps details the now-destroyed Lucky Bones building above. This map includes a detailed map of the upper dungeon, including the location of all of its secret doors. Notes on this map indicate that Guildmistress Lorelu was to defend this floor and Guildmaster Baccus was to defend the smugglers’ tunnels (this includes an indication that Baccus should call upon his “pet devil” Shurshogot for help, but provides no more insight there). Guildmistress Hei-Fen’s role was to attempt an escape via the smugglers’ tunnels to bring news of the assault to their allies in Vyre.
There is another door across the hall.
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"Interesting." Adolina says, flicking through the papers. She hands them on to Farrina - who speed reads better than she does, for further examination. She retains the poem however. "So, someone thought this was important." She says, “Moonstone, Moonstone, ruby bright / Open turquoise, malachite. Wonder what that's about. Let's keep it handy."
Then she gestures onwards, "Tajona, Rose, which one of you wants to lead."
None of the papers being of magical nature, Farrina's attention is only partially on them, but she reads through them dutifully.
"Molly Mayapple?" Farrina ponders thoughtfully. "I wonder if we should check to see if this woman is still around."
Rose walks up to the painting of Guildmistress Lorelu and copies her pose. "So, who are all of these people and what guild was down here before? Sounds like another bunch of protectors of Kintargo? Did you know this before finding out about this place?" She asks.
She shrugs her shoulders at Farrina's question, not really understanding what is going on fully yet.
"I'd personally prefer not to go first, I'm much more comfortable with my bow and after yesterday, we can't be too careful." She draws her bow and gestures for Tajona to take the lead to the next room.
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"They were a thieves guild, and a considerable one from what we've heard." Adolina replies. "The Order of the Torrent was founded almost specifically to defeat them, so I wouldn't call them 'defenders' exactly - they seem to have done plenty of useful work for us though..."
She sets a link on Tajona, since he is leading the way.
You enter the last room on this level of the dungeon. An intense battle occurred here, as indicated by gouges and old bloodstains on the walls and floor, scorched patches from old fires, and the moldering skeletons of several men and women sprawled on the floor. The middle of the room features a ten-foot-diameter iron capstone over what appears to be a well, next to which stands a winch made of wood and rusted iron. A large carving of a strange, tall, lanky man in a cloak adorns the capstone. The man’s four eyes are softly glowing gemstones.
An examination of the figure etched on the capstone reveals a disturbing truth—it is no man at all, but a strange insect that stands like a man, its wings folded against its body like a cloak.
Rose edges forwards, bow still in hand. "Are those magical?" She asks, cautious of such things. "Does anyone know who or what this might represent?"
The capstone slides open like a trap door, revealing a 10-foot-diameter shaft. The old, rusted rungs of an iron ladder descend into the shaft, which is flooded with water 10 feet below the floor level of this chamber. The shaft drops an additional 20 feet into the dark river water.
Most of the gear possessed by the dead thieves here has rotted and rusted away, but 168 gp, a +1 mithral short sword, and a vest of escape remain in good condition.
Declan points to the sword and vest, "Those are both magical items of some value. We should take them."
"Oh, you have got to be joking with me," Farrina declares, recoiling back from the drop into nasty water. "You expect me to go down there?"
Tanjona swims down a ways before coming back to report that the entire lower level of the dungeon appears to be flooded. You'll likely have to secure some water breathing magic if you wish to investigate them!
"Thats do-able" Rose says with certainty. "There are elixirs that can help us with that. Has your rebellion collected many funds to roll out something like this for all of us?" Rose enquires.
"Who is in charge of your funding anyway? You do have an organised system right? Please tell me its not all haphazard."
"Oh, you have got to be joking with me," Farrina declares, recoiling back from the drop into nasty water. "You expect me to go down there?"
Declan turns to Farrina and asks "What's a matter beautiful, afraid of getting a little wet?"
He then turns to watch Tanjona swim into the lower levels, doing his best to keep an eye on him should he run into trouble. When he returns, he helps him back up and pulls a blanket out of his pack and tosses it to him to dry off with.
When Rose starts rattling off questions, he turns to Adolina and waits for answers.